Without being a Mont Blanc expert, I am quite dubitative when I read your plan...

Do you want to tent near the Vallot hut? The hut itself is an emergency hut and should be reserved for emergencies. You're also risking a sleepless night at that altitude.

You do can "bivvy" near the Tete Rousse and the Gouter huts, tents allowed, "camping" is forbidden though. Go figure.
You can see tents near the Tete Rousse hut on this pic:
http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.php?object_id=546995
And near the Gouter hut:
http://www.summitpost.org/image/298286/154225/camp-on-aiguille-du-gouter.html
http://www.summitpost.org/image/333607/154225/aiguille-du-go-ter.html

Day 1 - no idea, most ppl go at least to the Tete Rousse hut.

you can sleep everywhere in a tent ..
the only important thing is to be able to wake up again

To me, there is no benefit whatsoever from sleeping in/camping near the Vallot Hut, it's all of about an hour from the summit. I doubt you'd sleep at that altitude either as you won't have been climbing at it. If you see bad weather from the Tete Rouse or Gouter, you can stay away and wait till the next day, if you see bad weather from the Vallot, you're in the middle of it!

If you want to do it slow and make sure you summit (which can't be guaranteed no matter what precautions you take because the weather might be awful for two weeks or more) I suggest you come up with a very good acclimatisation schedule and make sure you get over 4000m at least once before you attempt Mont Blanc itself.

JackCarr wrote:To me, there is no benefit whatsoever from sleeping in/camping near the Vallot Hut, it's all of about an hour from the summit. I doubt you'd sleep at that altitude either as you won't have been climbing at it. If you see bad weather from the Tete Rouse or Gouter, you can stay away and wait till the next day, if you see bad weather from the Vallot, you're in the middle of it!

If you want to do it slow and make sure you summit (which can't be guaranteed no matter what precautions you take because the weather might be awful for two weeks or more) I suggest you come up with a very good acclimatisation schedule and make sure you get over 4000m at least once before you attempt Mont Blanc itself.

Good point, there is no point, in my opinion, in sleeping up at the Vallot- you´r almost there. And yes people camp up at the Gouter, in fact it´s popular- but it seems to me to be just as squalid as the hut with the extra pleasure of lugging camping gear up there.

The only problem I see with your strategy is that you will be spending a considerable amount of time high on the mountain, and Mont Blanc tends not to have such a prolonged spell of good weather, therefore your chances to get cough in a storm are much higher...
Plus the normal route is an easy route and I do not think it deserves the dedication of all this time...maybe if you want camp out do the 3 Mont Blanc Route,more scenic and interesting or , or if you can deal with a true difficult route do the Innominata Ridge with 1 or two true forced bivouacs ...

If you want to go slow, consider staying at the Tete Rouse, then the Gouter or even the Vallot. It's really not a very long trip from the Gouter to the summit and back. If you leave the Tete Rouse early, then you will cross the nasty Grand Coulior before it has a chance to start its rock fall.

I think it's awesome that you have the time and are willing to go slowly to really experience the mountain...it's a worthy motivation. But I gotta 2nd (or 3rd) the note about the Vallot Hut, and also "weather" that high can be pretty dangerous. Once above the Gouter I think you'd be better off going for it rather than moving slowly. With such a slow plan you could easily start out in a great weather window and then end up miserable on the summit in snowstorms.

Another thing, since you are willing to carry the equipment, why not chose a route that isn't the most popular route in the whole world? You'll be passed up and down over and over by crowds for 5 days. With the time and power you have for the occasion, the luxury of a machine-free ascent from the valley is possible. This is a really worthy mountaineering goal. Climbxclimb mentioned the Innominata, a great route but possibly more technical than you'd want. There are other options. How about the west side of the mountain, rarely visited?

However you do it, best of luck! I think it takes more people doing some unusual things in order to restore the beauty of that mountain, as crowds tarnish the image. For me, the long day of climbing on the Innominata, just me and my partner with no one else around was a kind of spiritual journey...I wish you the same!

mvs wrote:I think it's awesome that you have the time and are willing to go slowly to really experience the mountain...it's a worthy motivation. But I gotta 2nd (or 3rd) the note about the Vallot Hut, and also "weather" that high can be pretty dangerous. Once above the Gouter I think you'd be better off going for it rather than moving slowly. With such a slow plan you could easily start out in a great weather window and then end up miserable on the summit in snowstorms.

Another thing, since you are willing to carry the equipment, why not chose a route that isn't the most popular route in the whole world? You'll be passed up and down over and over by crowds for 5 days. With the time and power you have for the occasion, the luxury of a machine-free ascent from the valley is possible. This is a really worthy mountaineering goal. Climbxclimb mentioned the Innominata, a great route but possibly more technical than you'd want. There are other options. How about the west side of the mountain, rarely visited?

However you do it, best of luck! I think it takes more people doing some unusual things in order to restore the beauty of that mountain, as crowds tarnish the image. For me, the long day of climbing on the Innominata, just me and my partner with no one else around was a kind of spiritual journey...I wish you the same!

Again, good points. Somehow I would equate camping up there on the main tourist route as s planning a holiday on a park bench.

stefschuermans wrote:I would like to see all those people going up, we had a great time laughing with people on the normal route of whitney with poor acclimatisation.
This will be my last test high in the mountains before going to aconcagua (1.5 years to go, but no time for going to the mountains) That's why I wanne sleep high, we will take food and fuel up for a longer period ...

I'll check out the innominata ridge and the west side of the mountain, I'm affraid my partner won't be ready for innominata

Yeah, do be cautious...I found Innominata pretty tough, I was extremely tired at the end and we really took hours longer than we should have. My thought is that the crowd and dynamics will be different than Whitney. There will be less of the "what a beautiful crazy time we are having here!" and more of guides shouting orders to their clients and others...generally the kind of scene you'd happily walk a mile to avoid.

At the very least, consider doing the Italian Normal Route (there is an SP page for it), you can ascend from the valley floor too. Seems a definite improvement!

Moni wrote:If you want to go slow, consider staying at the Tete Rouse, then the Gouter or even the Vallot. It's really not a very long trip from the Gouter to the summit and back. If you leave the Tete Rouse early, then you will cross the nasty Grand Coulior before it has a chance to start its rock fall.

Stef, I think that Moni's plan is the best. We did it when we summited in 2001 but we slept in our tent near Refuge de Gouter, so we descended Mont Blanc in two days using Tramway du Mont Blanc. There was no need to descend so tired (I also ascended to Dome de Gouter summit) and running the risk of crossing the Grand Couloir after midday (nearby my elder brother was injured in 1990 by a stone). It's by far better to sleep near Gouter than Vallot because of its lower height. Sleeping over 4350 is not easy, headaches are so common at that altitude. Even Gouter is a guarded refuge and the cold Vallot is not

stefschuermans wrote:Innominate ridge is to hard for her ...

yes, but easy for you !!!!

bla, bla, bla ....
my old friends taught me 2 simple things :
- 1 - go, climb and (when back) tell
- 2 - go, climb and (BETTER) don't tell

start walking from Cosmiques at midnight
you will surely enjoy the sunrise

gabriele wrote:start walking from Cosmiques at midnight
you will surely enjoy the sunrise

I can vouch for that suggestion!!

you could place your tent at the Col de la Brenva or at the Mur de la Cote